"Considering the great
judgments of God which according to his threatening would come on
the world, he was moved with a certain compassion on the one hand to
pity them that would thus perish, and on the other hand by the
infirmity of man's nature, knowing how hard a thing it was to
enterprise such a charge."

"Metaphors taken from
architects and gardeners: either the former words relate to the
enemies of God, and the latter to his friends; or rather to both
conditionally: if they repent, he will build them up, he will
increase their families, and settle them in the land; if they do
not, he will root them up, and pull them down."

"Prophets are said to do
that which they foretell shall be done; for their word is
God's word; and His word is His instrument whereby He doeth all
things (Ge 1:3; Ps 33:6, 9). Word and deed are one thing with Him.
What His prophet saith is as certain as if it were done.
The prophet's own consciousness was absorbed into that of God; so
closely united to God did he feel himself, that Jehovah's words and
deeds are described as his."

"As the book unfolds, it is apparent that Jeremiah is called to deliver a message that is both difficult and unwelcome. The declaration that God knew him before he was born, even before he was formed in his mother's womb, does not exempt Jeremiah from problems inherent in his ministerial call."

"Most people I have ever heard speaking of their start in vocations similar to those of Moses and Jeremiah begin not with a burning bush or an audible voice, but with a deep conviction that whatever else they may do, and no matter how they might or might not establish their 403Bs, it is the task itself that draws them in."

Jeremiah 1:4-10,
The Old Testament Readings: Weekly Comments on the Revised Common
Lectionary, Theological Hall of the Uniting Church,
Melbourne, Australia.

"Jeremiah?s call was to pull down those
things which did not lead to life as well as to build up those which did,
and much of what belonged to what depended on the social and historical
circumstances of the time."

"I have heard it said that it
takes a lot of faith in the future to plant an acorn. Few people who
plant acorns will ever see the mature oak that it produces. Much of
what we do in ministry, or simply in being Christian does not have
immediate, short-range results."